


Fireworks

by Anonymous



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Birthday, Coming of Age, Family, Fluff, Gen, Nostalgia, Short One Shot, Sweet, Timeskip Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-19 00:42:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29499006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: At the end of the day, seeing all these families walk together in the snow was enough to trigger a flood of discomfort in his guts. Maybe, just maybe, he would have wanted to walk that same way to the temple with someone else at his side.Or; Daichi and the bitter reality of working on New Year's Eve.
Kudos: 3
Collections: Anonymous





	Fireworks

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Daichi's birthday, right on last year's NYE. I originally shared it with some friends, but now that I found it in a folder I thought it would be cute to publish it.
> 
> Daichi's siblings are referenced in the work. Their names are kind of random, to be honest.

The glowing signs reflected on heaps of untainted snow: soft, cotton-like colours, industrial warmth in the blackest night. There was peace, even if feeble, in how the little rows of people moved on the sidewalk. Ice crinkled under their feet in a gleeful procession to the nearest temple, a way to welcome the new born year as if it was a gift from the gods.

Daichi lifted the cup to his parted lips, taking the last swing of that watered down coffee. It was a shame that such garbage was going to be his last drink of the year. Plastic crinkled in his gloved hands. 

Not that he could oppose the way shifts were assigned at the station, but it was only thanks to a borrowed, cynical mindset, if he had decided that working on New Year’s Eve was fine with him. It was expected from him, natural, **obvious** even.

Besides, he never understood people’s fascination with December. The so-called Christmas miracles never happened, blankets didn’t warm, and families didn’t magically glue together under the mistletoe. It was like every other month of the year… well, maybe with more homemade food. That certainly was a plus.

He could repeat reasonings in his head, force them to engrave in his conscience as mantras, but the bitter bite of reality proved to be overwhelming.

At the end of the day, seeing all these families walk together in the snow was enough to trigger a flood of discomfort in his guts. Maybe, just maybe, he would have wanted to walk that same way to the temple with someone else at his side. Daichi used to be there with his mother, then his aunt, then his brothers and sisters - over the years, more and more people glued to that memory. Childhood friends, nameless girls, and since high school, Suga and Asahi too.

Their names lingered unspoken on his tongue, resting beside a grain of unmelted sugar.

In a gust of icy air, wind pulled Daichi from his thoughts and reminded him that his ten minutes break was coming to an end. He tossed the cup, smiled at a passerby grandpa, and turned away from the crowd as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t time for Daichi and his sappy nostalgia.

 _”Take a deep breath,”_ and he did, _”because now it’s officer Sawamura and the world.”_

He pushed at the door of the Koban, only to find it locked. “Tamakawa?” Daichi called his colleague and rapped at the glass a second time. There was no answer.

Daichi squinted through the window to find Tamakawa sitting in his usual place, a knowing smile parked on his lips as he raised a thumbs up in his direction.

“Tamakawa, I’m locked out.”

His colleague shrugged and got up from his seat, but not to open the door. With another last wink, the man shut the blinds.

Daichi watched the scene in disbelief. "Sansa?! What kind of prank is this? It's freezing out here!" He knocked again, and if intentions could shatter glass, the window would have been in shiny crumbles.

His aching knuckles slid against the door as he sighed. Maybe he should have been alarmed, but tiredness and exasperation were too much to deal with now. It wasn’t the first time Tamakawa had acted strange, but lord help him: the moment Inspector Tanuma got there, Daichi would-

He sighed, tired gaze fixed on his pathetic reflection. Who was he kidding? Inspector Tanuma was probably under a heated blanket, watching the New Year’s lottery with his wife.

The more he peered on that sleek surface, the more it seemed to fill with all the people he had to turn down. His sister Sayori came first in sight, her red scarf wrapped tightly around her neck; then Ayumi, hair so long that it touched her legs; Ritsu and Taro, too, his brothers that were now both taller than him. 

It was… vivid. Strangely so.

Another couple stopped on the sidewalk: a tall one with glasses and someone shorter, with fair hair that glimmered under the lamppost. Why was it so familiar?

“Oi, officer,” The man called, “aren’t you forgetting something?”

Wind creeped in his uniform, and when the same gust brushed on the ones that he thought were products of his imagination, Daichi’s eyes widened.

It wasn't his imagination, after all.

“Happy birthday, Daichi.” Sayori beamed, “We brought cake.”

Taro nodded. “And soda!”

“And Asahi is going to sing happy birthda-”

“No I’m not!”

Laughter bubbled up in Daichi’s chest: scalding, pure, as white as the sun, it ignored the freezing air to expand and envelope him whole.

Snow could melt around them from that warmth alone. 

In the puddles was the dim reflection of lit candles. 

Peace was long forgotten in that offcut of time, and for that he couldn’t be grateful enough.

**Author's Note:**

> If you caught the MHA easter eggs, you're the MVP 🙏


End file.
